


Welcome home, dear

by ohanae



Series: Mike's and El's life [1]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Angst, College, F/M, Fluff, Holidays, Jealousy, Kissing, Making Out, Mileven, Romance, Smut in chapter 4, maybe more smut later on, this is so cheesy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-23
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-05 19:21:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12800652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohanae/pseuds/ohanae
Summary: Monsters were fought, the world was saved but with adolescence, way more problems come up. Love, college, financial crises and forgiveness.orMike and El move to Chicago to live together, Mike goes to college, El gets a job and there's this one guy who can't keep his eyes off El, which Mike doesn't approve of at all.





	1. Moving out

Hawkins, Summer, 1989

 

Summer was making life hard for everyone in Hawkins.  
The citizens of the small city were doing everything they could to escape the heat. Meaning, that they spent most of their time at home, where the air conditioner was saving lives.

Michael Wheeler, 18 at that time, was preparing to go to college in Chicago, to study Engineering.  
It was not quite what he wanted to study but due to certain circumstances he had no other choice.  
Firstly, he knew he needed a good job for his future, in order to give the love of his life, Jane Hopper or also known as El, everything she wanted and to always make her happy.  
Secondly, his parents wouldn’t allow him to move to Chicago with El, if he didn’t study Engineering. So, Mike was kind of forced to listen to his parents’ demands.

On this hot summer day, El, who had shoulder-length, brown, curly hair by now, was packing her bags with her dad, Jim Hopper.  
“El, you can’t take the Eggos with you. You need to take way more important things to Chicago.” Hopper said, as he was folding El’s pants and jeans and carefully putting them into the suitcase.

“…”

El said nothing in response but accepted Hopper’s advice anyway – well, sort of. Instead of five packages of Eggos, she took only one with her, carelessly throwing it into her backpack. The 18-year-old teen was never a girl of many words.  
She always had a relatively small vocabulary. Most of the time, you could see her feelings and emotions in her face expressions anyway, so there was no need for words.

Hopper made sure that El had all the important documents in her backpack. For example a copy of her birth certificate they got from Dr. Sam Owens and her social security card.  
As painful as the truth was, El was not able to go to college with Mike. She was too far behind on so many things. So they all agreed on making sure that El would get a job and help Hopper and Mike’s parents to finance their apartment, Mike’s study and all the other stuff they’d need, like groceries, medicine and furniture.

Even though it was a big step for the two young lovebirds, they were more than excited.  
El was looking forward to saying ‘Welcome home, dear’ the most. She has seen so many romance movies and TV shows while growing up at Hopper’s cabin, which definitely helped her a lot in Mike’s and hers relationship, even though Hopper and even her friend Max would always tell her that she shouldn’t believe everything she sees on TV.  
Almost done with packing her suitcase and backpack, El ran into the bathroom to apply a bit of makeup. She would always want to look her prettiest when seeing Mike, though he’d always tell her that she looked pretty, no matter if she had makeup on or not.

In general, El’s afternoon was pretty quiet and peaceful, and she enjoyed packing her bags with Hopper. Especially because she knew she wouldn’t see him for a while, once she moved to Chicago.

 

Meanwhile, at the Wheeler house.

 

“NANCY, CAN YOU LEND MIKE $50?!” Mrs Karen Wheeler yelled to her daughter, who was upstairs in her room, because she still had summer break and visited home during that time.

“I’M BROKE!” Nancy yelled back.

“Mom, I need more than just $50, it’ll be a long trip and I’d rather not go to the bank before we arrive in Chicago.” Mike said in annoyance to his mom, while stuffing his suitcase with everything he’d need.  
“What if El gets injured during the trip and what if we run out of money before arriving in Chicago and what if El gets be hungry?”

“You’re right.” Karen nodded in response. The mother took a liking to Mike’s girlfriend. She was polite, a little weird, but most importantly she really loved Mike, and Karen could see that.  
Ted Wheeler however, disliked El and did not approve of his son and that weird girl moving in together. So, that’s why Mike had to study whatever his dad wanted him to.  
Mike knew he shouldn’t leave on bad terms with his parents. El and he were dependent on his parents, otherwise they could never afford moving to Chicago.

 

Goodbyes were said, hugs were given and a couple of hours later, Mike and El were sitting in his car, on the way to the big city.

“Do you think we’ll find friends?” El asked her boyfriend, already missing Max, Will, Dustin and Lucas.

“Who cares about that. As long as we have each other, everything will be fine.” Mike said and glanced over to El. His smile and eyes were filled with so much love for his girlfriend.  
El grinned in a dorky way, always happy to hear Mike say things like these. She leaned over to peck a kiss on his freckled cheek.  
Mike had to keep looking at the street, especially since it was getting dark, but he sighed in content as they drove towards the sunset.

Their apartment was simple. It was small and located in a nice neighborhood, 20 minutes away from Mike’s school by bike.  
The furniture was already placed and the water and energy were working.  
El and Mike have been living in Chicago for 1 month by now and everything was, surprisingly, working out like they planned it. However, they quickly realized how low on money they were.  
Whenever they’d go out in the evening to get groceries, El would just look at the price of the Eggos, basically holding back her tears because the delicious waffles she used to eat in Hawkins all the time, were way more expensive here in Chicago.  
Mike would always feel bad seeing her like this, but what could they do?  
El did not get a job yet, mainly because every place she went to, to apply for an easy job, turned her down as she was too scary and weird.  
And Mike was not too fond of getting a job himself, because that would mean he’d always get home even later and that again would mean seeing El less, than he was doing already now.  
College was hard on him but the motivation to find a good job in a couple of years and buy El everything she ever wanted kept him going.  
Whenever Mike was at school, El would either take walks in the neighborhood, practice her powers at home or get groceries herself. She was also starting to learn how to cook. Hopper gave her this book with easy meals to make, so sometimes El would surprise Mike with self-made dinner when he got home. He’d always shower El with kisses and hugs when she did that.

 

Chicago, Autumn, 1989

 

Mike just got home. El heard him opening the door and she excitedly got up the couch to greet him. “Welcome home, dear.” She said like she always would this past month, giving his lips a sweet, short peck.

“Hi, dear. You seem more excited than usually. What happened?” Mike asked, as he took off his shoes.

El did not hesitate to show him the reason she was this excited. She ran to the living room, got a paper and ran back to Mike, to show him the paper.  
Mike took the paper into his hands.

“Employment contract…” he read out loud and his face lit up. “You got a job?!” He asked, now just as excited.

His girlfriend nodded rashly and grinned proudly at Mike.  
Starting from next week, El would stock groceries in a supermarket. It was a simple job, which required a lot of hard work but El didn’t need much knowledge for that job, so it was perfectly fine.

 

Another month passed and Mike and El were finally able to afford Eggos, much for El’s delight.  
The job really exhausted her, as it required a lot of manual work. Her boss was rude and paid no attention to the fact that El was a petite girl, which frustrated Mike because he didn’t like his girlfriend coming home completely drained out.  
However, the payment was good and the young couple could afford ‘luxuries’ now, like sweets, a TV and a lot more hygiene products.  
And also, sometimes, when no one would look, El used her powers to stock the groceries.

 

On one day, Mike had the chance to go home sooner because some of his classes were cancelled. He decided to pick El up from work and ride home on his bike with her, like they did a few years ago in Hawkins, with El sitting behind Mike, her arms wrapped around his waist as they drove down the streets.  
Mike arrived at the supermarket and looked around for El. He saw her curly locks from a few meters away and walked towards her, wanting to surprise her from behind.

As he approached her, he saw a tall, blonde guy standing next to El and talking to her.  
Mike did not know that guy. But what Mike immediately did know, was the fact that this guy flirted with his girlfriend.  
The way he smiled, the way he looked at her and how he’d try to unsuspiciously touch El sometimes. Mike narrowed his eyes and decided to interrupt this conversation El had going on with that guy.

“Hey, sweetie.” Mike smiled and wrapped his arms around the girl from behind.  
She was obviously surprised but not upset.

“Mike!” El said in a cute voice, way more excited than usually. Probably because she didn’t expect her boyfriend to be here.

The blonde guy understood what was going on and raised an eyebrow, looking at Mike.

“Anyway Jane, it was nice seeing you again and don’t forget to call me!” The guy smiled at El, as he walked away and waved her goodbye.

As soon as the guy was gone, Mike’s smile turned into a frown. “Who was that?” He immediately asked.

“Cody.” El answered, while leaving the supermarket with Mike and saying goodbye to her co-workers.

“Cody?” Mike made a weird face. That guy definitely looked like a Cody.

El nodded and took Mike’s hand into hers. “Friend. From your school.”

“He goes to my school?”

El nodded again.

Mike rolled his eyes, hoping not to run into that douchebag at school.  
“El, I feel like he was flirting with you.” Mike said in all honesty.

The brunette tilted her head, looking at her boyfriend in confusion. “No… why would he?” She answered.

Mike sighed out and got up on his bike. “Hop on.”

El did as he said, wrapping her arms around his waist once she sat on the bike behind him.  
She got nostalgia as Mike started driving.

“Like in Hawkins.” She smiled and laid her head on Mike’s back, resting it on there to enjoy the cold autumn breeze.

Mike just smiled, glancing over his shoulder at his girlfriend. Oh, how he loved her.

His thoughts wandered off to that guy. Cody. Hopefully, he wouldn’t bother El again.  
At least El didn’t introduce herself to him as ‘El’, but as ‘Jane’.  
The name ‘El’ was special to Mike. He decided that nickname for her when they first met.

Mike got an idea all of sudden, but blushed as he realized how stupid it was. But then again…  
Good thing it was dark and cold, and no one could tell how hard he was blushing.

Once the young couple got home, took off their jackets and shoes, and made their way to the living room, Mike got a burst of courage suddenly and thought his idea was not that bad actually.  
El was on her way to the kitchen to warm up their dinner, but Mike grabbed El’s wrist and pulled her to him. She let out a gasp in surprise, as she found herself in Mike’s arms.

“M-Mike?” El smiled in confusion, but soon noticed what her boyfriend was doing.

It was weird… it felt like... he was sucking on her neck? It was definitely not a kiss.  
Mike stopped sucking after a few seconds and raised his head again to look at El’s neck. He left a dark red hickey on her skin. He has never done this before.

“What’s there?” El asked him, still confused.

Mike just grinned at her. “I left a hickey on you.”

“A hickey?”

“Yes, a love bite.”

“A love bite?”

Mike let out a small laugh and walked with El to a mirror, showing her his work.

“Dark red spot. Disease?” El asked in worry as she inspected her neck. Mike quickly shook his head.

“No, no! It’s like a mark that you can get from your lover, to show that you are his or hers.” He explained as simply as he could. “You can also leave one on my neck, I mean, just if you’d like...” Mike shrugged as he mumbled to her, actually really wanting to receive a hickey from El.

El started to understand and smiled, wrapping her arms around Mike’s neck and following his actions; sucking on his neck.  
Mike would lie, if he said it didn’t feel good.  
The young lovebirds started exchanging kisses as they got excited. Mike’s hands found their way under El’s shirt and El was having a lot of fun running her hands through Mike’s hair, as they continuously deepened their kisses.

“El, did you buy condoms when you went grocery shopping?” Mike mumbled through their kiss.  
El just nodded, not wanting to interrupt their make out session any longer.

The couple didn’t eat dinner for a couple more hours.


	2. Jealous, Oblivious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike is jealous, El is oblivious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is so cliché. :'D  
> But trust me, I'm having plans and I'm going somewhere with all this.
> 
> I'm not all too satisfied with this chapter, mainly because it's so stereotypical and I feel like Mike and El are OOC.  
> I'll try to change that in the next chapter!  
> Also, next chapter will be focused more on Eleven and her thoughts and emotions.

Chicago, Autumn, 1989

 

“I’m sorry Mike, but you are just not good enough for me. I want someone like Cody, who has a rich family and can take better care of me.” El said to Mike, standing next to the tall blonde guy Mike has seen at the supermarket yesterday.

“W-What are you saying, El?” Mike answered, frowning in frustration.

He looked around and noticed they were in the void. Everything around them was black. And water covered the ground.

“You heard her, frogface.” Cody said with his super obnoxious voice. “Why would she want someone like you when… well, when she could have someone like me?” He grinned.

Mike shook his head, feeling tears filling the corners of his eyes. “E-El, you’re all I have. I can’t live without you… I love you.” He whimpered.

That’s when he started walking towards El and Cody, but no matter how much he walked, they didn’t seem to get closer. So Mike started running.  
As he reached El and Cody, they vanished right in front of him and Mike was left alone behind in the darkness.

 

Mike opened his eyes, breathing heavily and sweating.

He looked around and realized he was lying next to his girlfriend El, who looked as beautiful as always when sleeping.  
It took him a few minutes to calm down. He reached for his alarm clock to take a look at the time.

2:48 AM, Thursday.

Mike had to get a clear head, so he carefully stood up, making sure not to wake up El who was wearing only one of his oversized shirts and nothing else.  
A smile found its way to Mike’s lips as he saw the hickey he has left on her neck a few hours ago.

His nightmare quickly crept back into his mind, making Mike shiver.

He put on some loose jogging pants, a shirt and a jacket, since it was autumn, and quietly left the apartment.

The cold air felt good on his face. Mike leaned against the door, looking up the sky.

He has noticed in the past few weeks that you couldn’t see the stars in the night sky as well as back in Hawkins, which sucked because he loved teaching El all about the universe and planets and the stars.

“Ughhh, what am I gonna do…” Mike mumbled to himself, burying his face into his hands, as the images of his nightmare kept coming back.

He has had nightmares like these before.

Nightmares about losing El.

Nightmares about her not wanting to be with him anymore.

These were the worst kinds of nightmares.

He would never forget the 353 days he spent in agony without the love of his life.

El said that this Cody guy was just a friend and he trusted her more than anyone else.  
Mike knew he shouldn’t be an annoying, jealous boyfriend, but often he couldn’t help it. He was selfish. He has been selfish ever since he met El.

He wanted her all for himself. No one else was allowed to see all these things, which made Mike fall in love with her. Her smile and laugh, her facial expression and her loving, kind-hearted, supportive, honest, brave and patient personality.  
There was not one thing about El which Mike disliked. He simply loved everything about her.  
And that’s why he couldn’t ever lose her.

Mike sighed out and turned around to open the door but-

It was locked.

Mike’s eyes widened as he furiously searched in the pockets of his jacket for the apartment keys…

But they were inside the apartment.

A loud groan escaped Mike’s lips. “Why am I like this…” He sighed.

 

El woke up in the morning, still feeling a little tired. Something was odd, she immediately noticed.  
Her boyfriend was not in bed next to her. El shot up and jumped out of the bed, searching the apartment for Mike.

“Mike? Mike?” El called out his name but he was nowhere to be found; not in the kitchen, not in the living room and neither in the bathroom.

She slightly opened the door to their apartment, as she was almost naked and didn’t want anyone to see her like that, and-

Mike was sitting on the ground in front of the door, leaning against it and sleeping.

El quickly woke Mike up, shaking his shoulder. “Mike? Mike!”  
The brown haired guy woke up and noticed his entire body was freezing.

“E-El?” He looked up to her in a daze, as she was peeking out of the apartment.

El grabbed his arm and pulled him inside.  
Mike didn’t go to school that day and El spent almost the entire day wrapping her boyfriend up in blankets and sweaters.  
When she asked him why he didn’t ring the doorbell at night, he simply replied that he wanted El to keep sleeping, which resulted in El showering Mike with kisses, while also scolding him at the same time.

 

A week passed and Mike got a cold, resulting to him not going to school for some days.

During these days he would take care of the household while El was at work.

On a Friday afternoon Mike felt a little better than in the past few days, so he decided to pick his girlfriend up from work.  
Mike had already forgotten about Cody, well, kind of. He decided to just trust El, knowing, or rather hoping, that she wouldn’t flirt with that guy.

Mike was riding his bike to the supermarket, saving money on gas as much as he could, and feeling slightly more alive, now that his cold was almost gone.  
He entered the store once he got off his bike and scanned the area for Eleven.

However, she was nowhere to be found. Mike approached one of El’s co-workers.

“Excuse me, where is El-, Jane Hopper?” He asked, quickly correcting himself.  
Hopper and Mike have told El a few years ago to introduce herself as Jane to every stranger.

“She has left 30 minutes ago already. Boss let her go sooner because her boyfriend picked her up I think.” The co-worker explained.

Mike winced as soon as he heard that response. What was all this about?

He thanked the co-worker and quickly left the store- no, he was basically running out of the store.  
Quickly hopping on his bike, he rode all the way back to their apartment, looking out for El meanwhile.

 

As Mike arrived home, he saw a blue Toyota Cressida in front of their apartment. It was a relatively new looking car, so Mike assumed that they had one rich guest at home right now…

He angrily opened the door, just to see Cody and El sitting in the living room and drinking… a glass of wine?! El usually never drank alcohol, except on special occasions.

“Mike!” El smiled at her boyfriend in a cute way as always and stood up to greet him. “Welcome home, dear.”

She did not kiss him like she usually would when greeting him.

That’s when Mike knew that Cody has been here for too long already.

He glared at Cody and Cody glared back at Mike. The tension was almost painful.

“Cody drove me home. I invited him inside.” El explained, slightly oblivious to the tension between the two guys.

“He needs to leave.” Mike said.

Cody stood up and approached Mike. “We just got inside. Do you want a glass of wine as well? I brought a really expensive one.” He smirked.

Mike hated everything about that guy.

“Get to know each other?” El suggested Mike.

And Mike honestly considered it for a moment.

Not because he wanted to be friends with Cody, but for El. Mike knew how bad El wanted to find friends in Chicago, something she hasn’t done yet.  
But then Mike remembered his nightmare and shook his head. “No. He has to leave.”

“Alright, alright, no need to be this pissed.” Cody let out an obnoxious laugh, as he grabbed his leather jacket and put it on. “El, you can keep the wine. Please enjoy it.” He smiled in a charming way at the brunette.

“Thanks.” She smiled back in a polite way.

“And don’t forget to come to my Christmas party in two weeks. I’ll be waiting for you.” With a wink, Cody left the apartment.

Mike slammed the door shut, as soon as Cody stepped out of their home.

“Don’t go to that party.” He commanded El and went to the table in the living room, noticing that Cody has left his phone number and address on a piece of paper, next to the bottle of wine.

Mike grabbed the paper and walked towards the trash can.  
All of sudden he stopped moving, right before he was about to throw the piece of paper into the garbage. It was like a magnet pulled him back.  
He glanced over to El and saw her doing her “stare”. She was obviously using her powers on him. Something she hasn’t done in forever.  
Did she seriously just stop him from throwing Cody’s address and phone number away?

“El, stop that.” Mike furrowed his eyebrows, trying to break free.

El simply shook her head. “Cody is my friend.” She said.

“Do you seriously think he was planning on just being friends with you?! He definitely wants to get you into bed!” Mike argued, which was hard since El still kept him frozen in place.

“No!” She hissed and let go of Mike, letting him move again. But she grabbed the piece of paper out of his hands before he could do anything else. “Why don’t you want me to have friends?” El raised her voice, speaking in a full sentence for once. Meaning that she was angry.

“I want you to have friends! But friends who are not constantly hitting on you!” Mike started raising his voice as well.

“He is just polite and friendly!”

“He is flirting with you! How oblivious can you be, El?!”

They were nearly yelling.

“How jealous can you be?!” El asked angrily.

“I’m not jealous! I just worry about you!” 

“Worry?!” She repeated in disbelief.

“Yes, exactly!” Mike approached her, but El moved the couch with a tilt of her head, blocking Mike’s way to her.

“Sleep on the couch.” El said, lowering her voice again.

With that said she turned around and entered the bedroom.

Mike just looked at her go, speechless and in shock.  
He shook his head, frustrated that he just fought this bad with El about some guy.  
Mike really was jealous. He was jealous and selfish. But the thought of El leaving him for another guy was worrying him so much.

Mike couldn’t help it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I mentioned in the last chapter, this story is 100% inspired by the Mileven fanfics "For Laughs, For Luck, For the Unknown" by ArtemisRae and "Mike and Eleven face jealousy" by lovelysarcastic, which you should totally check out!


	3. Drinks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike and El make up, they go to a party and finally find time to express how much they love each other,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the fluff at the end <33 my mileven feels are going strong

**Chicago, late autumn, 1989  
**

Eleven did not sleep well that night. Why?

She slept all alone in the large bed, which Hopper paid for Mike and her once they moved out.

She felt more lonely than she ever has in the past few months.

Last night’s fight with Mike was been hard on her. Sure, being a couple, they sometimes argued about little things.  
Like, El eating Eggos and other sweets in bed, which Mike didn’t approve of.  
Or, El getting upset when Mike doesn’t have time to cuddle or to kiss, because he’s busy with college work.  
_(El would never understand why Mike worked so hard on his school work just because he wanted to get a job. She easily got a job and was satisfied with it.)_

But last night’s fight was different.

It almost felt like it… scarred her. It was more painful. It exhausted her. She felt way more emotions than usually, and to be frank, more than she’d even like to feel.

The brunette got out of bed, while taking a look at the alarm clock.

8:10 AM. Pretty early for a Saturday morning.

She sighed out and opened the door to the bedroom, peeking out. Mike was still on the couch.  
She felt bad for making her boyfriend sleep on the couch. El herself has fallen asleep on the couch once and as she woke up, her whole body ached. The couch was really uncomfortable.  
But then again, he deserved it. He yelled at her last night, just for trying to make a new friend.

El quietly walked over to the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for the day. While taking a shower, she realized she had no plans for that day. Hopefully, Mike wouldn’t start a fight again.

As her thoughts trailed off, El wondered _‘What if I started the fight?’_ she thought to herself but quickly shook her head. No way. Mike was at fault. She did nothing wrong, and neither did Cody, who was really nice and friendly to her. Cody even offered El to introduce her to some of his friends.

Once El came out of the shower, she dried her curly locks with a towel and put on acid washed jeans, a yellow and white striped tee-shirt and an oversized, pink knit jacket. Satisfied with her choice of clothes, she looked into the mirror.  
_‘Mike loves this outfit…’_ She smiled but forced herself to stop smiling, having to remind herself that she was angry at Mike.

El left the bathroom and was immediately greeted by a strong, delicious smell coming out of the living room. She went to check and widened her eyes in surprise as she saw breakfast ready on the table.

Mike standing next to that table.

“Good- good morning, love.” He nervously said, feeling a pink blush tinting his freckled cheeks.

El slowly approached Mike, glancing over to the breakfast table again. Mike prepared fried eggs, bacon and Eggos with maple syrup as topping. Additionally to that, he made tea for himself and her.

“I wanted to apologize for last night…” Mike gulped and El obviously noticed how flustered he was.

El couldn’t help it anymore. Her lips turned into a bright smile, her cheeks reddening in the slightest tint as well.  
And before she could remember that she was actually supposed to be angry with him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes.  
Mike let out a loud sigh in relief, embracing his girlfriend.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

They basically exchanged their apologies and let go of each other again to sit down at the table.

“So… I was thinking and… of course you can go to the Christmas party. I mean, who am I to command you not to go?” Mike began explaining while watching El devour the bacon. She was listening to him.

“But maybe we could make… a compromise?” He continued.

El tilted her head in curiosity, still listening to him.

“I have a really bad feeling about Cody and sure, he can be one of your acquaintances. But not your friend. He is not the kind of person that you should be friends with, and you have to trust me on that one.” Mike told her and soon enough noticed that El didn’t seem all too pleased with what he had to say.

“So… yeah uhm… how about we go to that Christmas party together and get to know other people? It would be a great chance to make friends.” He said. Mike would obviously feel more at ease if he’d come along to that party.

El was thinking for a few seconds while sipping on her hot tea, her eyes locked with Mike’s.

And then she nodded. “Sure. Halfway happy.”

That would give El a chance to say hi to Cody and meet new people, with her boyfriend coming along. It all seemed fine. Of course, El was not satisfied with the fact that Mike wouldn’t let her be friends with the person who invited her to the party in the first place, but well- she was halfway happy.

Mike smiled at her and El smiled back at him.

It was a calm Saturday. The couple watched a movie together, ate snacks, took a walk in the nearby forest and were glad that their fight was over this soon.

**Chicago, winter, 1989  
**

“El, how much longer are you going to be in the bathroom?” Mike called out in slight annoyance, sitting in the living room and ready to leave for the Christmas party, which El wanted to go to so badly.  
El meanwhile didn’t answer to his calls, desperately trying to tame her curls and straightening them with some device called ‘hair straightener’. She has never used it before.  
Before starting to straighten her curls, which were now relatively long and reached her armpits, she thought it would be a great idea to try out a new hair style, which everyone on TV has been talking about.

The brunette wore a red crop shirt, revealing her skinny waist, a black tulle skirt which went all the way down to her knees and a stonewashed denim jacket with shoulder pads.  
Her makeup was heavier than usually. Black eyeshadow, just like Kali taught her to apply a few years back, a bit of a red lip tint on her lips and some powder on her forehead and cheeks.

Once El was finally done with getting all ready, she ran out of the bathroom and into the living room, spinning around in a circle to present her look to Mike.

“Pretty.” He said, being kind of speechless. His girlfriend looked definitely different than usually. Mostly because of the makeup and her non-curly hair.  
“What’s all this outfit for? We’re just going to a Christmas party.” Mike frowned, feeling worried that El might attract other, new male ‘friends’.

“Someone on TV said that you need to look like this on a party.” El explained, tucking her hair behind her ears.

“Ah… I see.” Mike nodded slowly and the couple soon left for the party.

 

That night, Mike would stay next to El all the time, introducing himself kind of shyly when someone spoke to El. Most people were rather interested in El instead of him. He was fine with that.  
He didn’t feel like talking with all these drunk people anyway.

“Mike, can I drink that too?” El suddenly asked Mike, catching him off guard when he was lost in his thoughts. He looked over to whatever El was pointing at. It was an alcoholic punch bowl.

“No. No alcohol.” Mike said immediately, shaking his head.

“Please.” The brunette looked at Mike with her cute brown eyes, pouting slightly. El exactly knew how to win her boyfriend over sometimes. She’d do that oh so often, when they went grocery shopping and she wanted sweets or snacks.

Mike tried to stay harsh but gave up soon enough. “Fine, but I’ll pour it into a cup for you. You shouldn’t drink a lot.”

“Not healthy, I know.” El rolled her eyes, not being annoyed at all though. She would always find it cute how Mike cared for her. He reminded her of Hopper sometimes.

On their way to the punch bowl, someone tapped on Mike’s shoulder, causing him to turn around and automatically, Eleven too.

“Hey.” A dark-skinned girl with crazy curls, even crazier than El’s, greeted Mike.

“Do I know you?” He immediately asked, finding it weird how some stranger would talk to him.

“I see you at school sometimes. You’re majoring in engineering, right?” She asked, completely ignoring the girl standing next to Mike.

He nodded.

“My name is Jasmin.” The dark-skinned girl reached out her hand, expecting Mike to shake it. And he did.

“Nice to meet you.” He said, still confused.

Eleven took a look at the girl named Jasmin and then glanced at Mike again, just to look over at Jasmin again.

…

Why was Jasmin smiling at Mike like this?, El wondered, feeling uncomfortable  
.  
Jasmin looked at Mike like El would look at him sometimes, when he did something sweet for her.

In that exact moment, Jasmin looked over to Eleven, staring right at her.

“Your girlfriend?”

Mike nodded again.

El smiled in a polite way, like she was taught.

“Ahh… okay. That’s a nice jacket.” Jasmin said and with that said she left, waving goodbye to Mike before disappearing in the crowd.

Mike and El watched her leave and silently continued their way to the punch bowl.

Unfortunately, they were stopped by someone shouting El’s name, before even reaching the drinks.

“Aye, Jane!”

El looked over her shoulder and her face lit up as she spotted Cody walking towards them.

“Jane, I see you brought someone with you.” Cody said, glaring at Mike.

“Yes, my boyfriend.” El answered.

And Mike was so terribly relieved to hear her say that.

“Mhm. I know.” He huffed but quickly smiled in a friendly way again. “Thanks for coming. I’ll pour you guys a drink.”

Cody turned around and went over to the bar at the kitchen, pouring the liquid of the punch bowl into a red plastic cup.

However, that wasn’t the only thing he put into the cup.

El saw him inconspicuously throwing a pill into the liquid, which dissolved in the drink.  
That pill reminded her of some memory.

A memory of the lab she used to live in, back in Hawkins.

The bad men would throw this kind of pill into her drinks sometimes to make her all dazed and numb.

El looked up at Mike but he just looked into the crowd, not seeming to notice what Cody just did.

Cody turned around and walked back to the couple. “Here. This one’s for you.” The blonde guy reached out his hand with the drink to Mike, when suddenly some stranger stumbled against Cody and the plastic cup went flying on his white, way too tight tee-shirt.

Cody widened his eyes in anger, glaring at the stranger. “Sorry man, I don’t know how that happened.” The stranger said to Cody and disappeared back into the crowd to get away from a fight with the house owner.

El quickly wiped her nose with her denim jacket, swiping the blood away.

Using her psychic powers on people still caused her to have a nosebleed sometimes, whereas controlling objects was easy most of the times.

Mike noticed the blood.

He was confused and didn’t know what was going on.

“Ugh, I’ll be right back.” Cody said, frustrated that his shirt got ruined and made his way to the bathroom.

El and Mike watched him leave and as soon as he closed the door to the bathroom behind him, El took hold of Mike’s hand and pulled him through the crowd. Mike heard some people say things like “Jane, are you leaving?”, “Where are you going, Jane?” and “Jane probably suddenly felt horny.” as his girlfriend brought him outside, to the front of the house where some people were either throwing up or making out.

Mike immediately turned to his girlfriend, waiting for an explanation on what just happened. He was more than glad to be finally out of this sweaty, crowded house but still wondered why El used her powers.

“Pills… in your drink.” El told Mike. She couldn’t explain herself why Cody would want to drug Mike.

“What? Did you see someone putting drugs into the cup?” Mike widened his eyes both in shock and surprise.

El nodded. “Cody.”

Her boyfriend grinned proudly, instead of being worried. “I knew he was a terrible person.” Mike said, crossing his arms.  
Eleven looked at Mike in disbelief, not believing that he would bring that up right now. But she started giggling a few seconds later. “You did.”

 

Later that night, El and Mike cuddled with each other on the couch, having drank a few glasses of the expensive wine that Cody brought to their place once, and watched a movie.  
Mike knew that El had hoped to stay longer at the party and that she wanted to drink alcohol, like all the people did at the party. Mike also knew that El wanted to be like normal people her age, who got drunk sometimes and said stupid things when they were wasted. He had to accept that and as long as they were safely at their home, Mike was fine with it.  
El would always get tipsy after just a few sips of alcohol, whereas Mike started to feel the alcohol after his third glass.

“Mike, have you ever thought of marriage?” El asked all of sudden, as she watched the film. The protagonist proposed to his girlfriend.

Eleven has seen this kind of scene in so many TV shows and movies.

A few years ago she looked for the word ‘Marriage’ in her dictionary.

‘The legally or formally recognized union of two people as partners in a personal relationship.’

However, El was not satisfied with that kind of definition. So, she had asked Joyce Byers back then.

Joyce would tell her that marriage is the bond between two lovers, who knew that they wanted to spend their whole life together and raise children.

This answer satisfied El a little more.

When she asked Hopper what marriage meant, he told her in panic that she should not think about marriage for a couple more years.

This confused El again.

She knew she wanted to spend all her life with Mike, so why couldn’t she think about marriage yet?

In the course of the years and while growing up, she learned the importance, but also the danger of marriage.

A lot of couples were unhappy once they married and just blatantly followed the rules of society to raise children and forget all about their own love life.

Whereas other couples were even happier once they married. They’d love each other each day, more and more, and were happy to bring a new human to the world.

El never asked Mike what his opinion about marriage was.

They’ve told each other a lot of times that they’d want spend all their life together until they die, but did that mean that they were ready to marry? Who knew.

Anyway, El knew that she wanted to marry Mike. She wanted to officially be his, she wanted to wear a ring on her finger and wanted him to wear the same ring on his finger, she wanted to wear a pretty white dress and take a lot of pictures, but most importantly, El wanted to be his. She wanted to be Mike’s wife. She wanted to be even closer to him than she was now.

As soon as El asked that question, Mike nearly choked on his wine.

“M-Marriage?” His face became a red mess, he avoided El’s eyes and quickly put the glass of wine away. “Yes, I have.” He said nervously.

El looked up at him. She was leaning against her boyfriend’s shoulder, with his arm wrapped around her.  
“What do you think of it?” She asked with a cute smile which made Mike almost melt.

“I don’t know. My parents were not happy once they married. Will’s mother divorced her husband soon after they married. Hopper’s wife divorced him as well. So I’m really not sure what to think…” Mike admitted.

El’s smile disappeared, her face fell.

“And what do you think?” He asked her quickly.

“I… don’t know.” She quietly said, looking down on her hands.

But Mike realized soon enough that she did know. The way her eyes sparkled whenever she watched a film which included a wedding scene. Mike obviously noticed.

“El?”

She looked up at Mike once she heard her name.

“I want to spend all my life with you. You’ve changed my world, do you know that?” Mike said with an awkward smile. He was so bad at saying sweet things. He’d always blush like crazy.

El’s smile returned to her face.

“And you’ve changed mine.”

Mike lowered his head to press a loving kiss on his girlfriend’s lips and she happily returned the kiss.

He raised his head slightly, stopping the kiss, to look at El’s face. “You’re beautiful.” Mike said, completely serious, falling in love with her even more, if that was somehow possible.

Now El was the one who started blushing.

And Mike loved seeing her blush.

“You’re so pretty. And I love your smile. And your eyes. And your nose. And everything.” He continued, his face only a few millimeters away from hers.

El’s grin almost went up all the way to her ears.

Mike started placing short kisses on her entire face.

“Mike, I love you so much.” El whispered and hugged Mike, making him stop his shower of kisses.

“I love you more.” He said and hugged her back, burying his face into the crook of her neck.

That’s when Mike knew. He would always be happy with El. What was he worrying about? She was loyal, protected him like no one else would and loved him with all her heart. And it was the other way around with Mike.

“El, if I’d ask you to marry me, what would you say?” He quietly said, using the silence of the moment. The movie was already over so their living room was dead silent.

As soon as she heard this question, she pulled away from Mike to stare at him, her eyes wide open.

“Yes!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really satisfied with this chapter! It's a little longer than I expected it to be, but the fanfic is going into the direction that I planned, so I'm glad about that.


	4. Rings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike and El go back home to Hawkins over Christmas.  
> Warning!! Smut in this chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god, this chapter is basically just a horrible excuse for me to write mileven smut and ahh it's so bad, I haven't written smut in years!!  
> So yeah, this is kinda just a filler chapter which adds almost nothing to the story lol

**Hawkins, Winter, 1989**

December marked the calendars of everyone in town.

Eleven and Mike went back to Hawkins over Christmas to celebrate with their family and friends, who all agreed on spending a few days together, but also to announce that Mike and El were planning on getting married.

Unfortunately, Mike was not able to afford to buy pairs of rings yet and he hated that. He knew El wanted to go through all these cheesy, cute traditions that couples did before getting married, and he really didn’t mind that, as long as El was happy.

However, they couldn’t even afford a new fridge, which was broken, because El recently got fired _(apparently, multiple people at the supermarket complained that El was no help at all and was creeping everyone out, so her boss fired her for her ‘poor performance’)_. Also, they were having troubles with paying the bills.

The money Hopper and Mike’s parents sent the young couple each month was helping a lot, but it didn’t allow them to afford any ‘luxuries’.

 

On December 22, Mike and Eleven arrived in Hawkins. Mike parked his car in the small parking space in front of the Byers’ house.

Hopper, Joyce, Jonathan, Will, Nancy, Steve, Dustin, Lucas and Max were all inside, waiting for the couple to arrive.

As soon as the car stopped, El jumped out of it, slamming the car door open and not even closing it, running towards the familiar house. Mike smiled as he watched her go and closed the car’s doors before he walked towards Will’s house, following El.  
Joyce opened the door for El and Mike, and excitedly hugged the petite brunette.

“Ellie!”

“Joyce!”

The two women greeted each other. Once El let go of Joyce, Hopper embraced his adoptive daughter, glad to finally hold her after so many months again.

Their friends too. They all exchanged hugs and it felt nice seeing everyone, their friends and family.

The reunion was sweet and they all took their time.

 

That evening, they all sat together in the Byers’ living room, where they have experienced so many things a few years ago, talked for a few hours and ate a festive dinner together.

Once everyone was updated about the latest news, Mike and El glanced at each other, deciding it was time to tell them.

Mike was about to start the conversation, when El already started annoucing.

“Mike and I are going to get married.”

Everyone suddenly turned silent, staring at the couple, as if they would’ve misheard El.

The Christmas music playing the background was the only noise that filled the room that moment.

Mike wanted to get up and just leave the house. He was not ready for their reactions.

“What?” Hopper was the first one to react to this announcement.

After all, Mike has not asked Hopper for his blessings, before he asked El to marry him, so he was pretty scared of El’s adoptive father, especially at this moment.

“Yeah… I asked her two weeks ago.” Mike just nodded slowly.

Max, Nancy and Joyce immediately started to congratulate the young couple, truthfully happy for them, whereas the boys were still startled.

“I can’t believe you’re getting married before me, little brother.” Nancy laughed and patted Mike’s shoulder, him just shyly scratching the back of his head, not knowing what to say.

“Man, congrats.” Lucas now spoke, and Will and Dustin quickly congratulated their friends as well.

Jonathan and Steve spoke their congratulations as well.

“I’m so jealous of you, El.” Max said with a smile to her friend, while taking a short look at Lucas, who avoided his girlfriend’s eyes quickly.

“Thank you everyone.” El smiled, obviously being not as nervous as Mike was.

Mike knew, they were only 18 years old after all. Really young. He didn’t even know yet how his parents would react. Also, Hopper has been awfully quiet.

“Where’s your ring though?” Max curiously asked, unintentionally making Mike feel even worse.

“No money, no ring.” El shrugged it with a smile off and wrapped her slim arms around Mike’s arm, who was sitting next to her, and closed her eyes. “But still happy.”

Nearly everyone awed. They sure were cute to look at. Young and in love.

Mike put on a fake smile and glanced over to Hopper, who met his gaze. “Mike, can we talk? Alone?” Jim asked. Mike has been waiting for this. He nodded and got up, following Hopper to the end of the corridor.

“Listen, boy… why did you do that?” Hopper asked straightforward.

“Because I love her.” Mike did not hesitate to answer.

“I know, I know. But you do know that you’re still in college, a really expensive college, El has no job anymore and you guys have barely any money. Chicago is expensive. This was the worst time to ask her.”

Mike lowered his head. Hopper was somewhat right. Hell, Mike couldn’t even buy a ring for his girlfriend- no, his fiancée.

“But… maybe… maybe it actually was the best time to ask her.” The young man realized and caused Hopper to raise his eyebrows in confusion.

“You know, exactly because of all these problems, we need to take the next step. I want to assure El that I’m serious when I told her that I’d stay with her forever. I don’t want her to be frustrated because of our financial issues.” Mike explained to Jim.

Hopper let out a heavy sigh. “I guess that’s true. You’re actually a pretty good boyfriend and fiancé. But no babies until you’re both 28!” He said in a warning tone, to which Mike couldn’t help but blush.

“Yeah, yeah…”

Mike wasn’t sure if he could keep that promise.

Later that night, Mike and El decided it was time to drive to his parents to stay over at their place over night.

While El said goodbye to all her friends, even though she would see them in three days, on Christmas, again, Joyce Byers pulled Mike over to the corner of the living room.

“Mike, let’s go shopping together tomorrow.” She said.

“W-What?” He confusedly asked.

“Hopper and I decided to pay for your rings. And you probably don’t have a Christmas present for your fiancée yet, right?” Joyce winked at him. How did she know?!

But then Mike realized what she actually said.

“You are willing to pay for the rings?” He whispered to her in shock, making sure El wouldn’t hear.

“Yeah, Hopper too, of course.” She nodded. Mike hugged her in gratitude.

Hopper was gone already because he had work the following day, so Mike did not have the chance to thank him yet.

So that’s how Mike and Joyce turned out to be walking into each jewelry store in the shopping mall together.

El was spending time with Max, Dustin, Lucas and Will that day. Mike told his fiancée that Joyce asked him to help out in the store she was working in, because Christmas season was busy, which was obviously a blatant lie, but Mike wanted to surprise El with the ring.

After four hours of searching, Joyce and Mike decided to go for a pair of simple gold rings with a small diamond decorating the top of each ring. The rings were painfully expensive but Joyce would keep telling Mike to look at the rings, and not at the prices.

Days passed and Christmas Eve arrived.

They all decided to spend that evening in the Byers’ house again. This time even the parents of the kids went with them. So the house was pretty crowded.

Christmas was celebrated with once again, a festive dinner made by Nancy, Karen Wheeler and Joyce, Christmas music, some alcohol and a lot of presents exchanging.

Mike and El barely talked to each other that evening, they were so busy having conversations with their friends and family.

While Mike was helping Joyce clean the dishes after the dinner, he happened to hear El’s and Max’s conversation.

“So… this wedding... I’m gonna be a bridesmaid, right?” Max asked her friend excitedly.

El had no idea what a bridesmaid was, neither did she know all the wedding roles and responsibilities in general.

“Sure… if you want.” El simply said, making a note for herself in her mind to ask Mike about that later.

“This is just sooo exciting! Girl, I’m really happy for you.” The red-haired girl said in joy, smiling brightly at El. “But you’re not pregnant, right?” Max quickly asked.

“No, no.” El blushed.

“Alright, phew. Anyway, I still can’t believe Mike didn’t get you a ring. He didn’t even give you a gift while we did the present exchanging.” Max shook her head in disbelief.

“It’s okay. I didn’t get him anything either. Low on money.”

El told Max how she recently got fired, so she and Mike had no income of money, except Mike’s parents and Hopper’s monthly money.

Mike couldn’t help but smile to himself. He got El the best Christmas present one could ever get. He was so excited to show it to her.

He finished the dishes and dried his hands, walking over to the girls.

“Love, can you come with me for a minute?” Mike asked his fiancée and felt a sudden burst of confidence inside of him, as he wrapped one arm around El’s waist.

Max immediately knew what this was about and wanted to give the love birds some time for themselves, so she walked over to the guys.

El smiled at Mike in a loving way while carefully shoving him away. “I was talking.” She said, but not with an angry tone, but more like she was stating a fact. El was about to follow Max, but Mike took hold of his fiancée’s hand and pulled her back to him. “Your gift is waiting.” He stated, causing El to open her mouth in surprise, as if she was about to say something but no words were able to come out of her.

“Let’s go outside for a minute okay? Put on your jacket.” Mike told her.

They excused themselves to the rest of the group, telling them that they’d be back any minute and got dressed up in warm clothes to keep them from freezing to death outside.

Mike closed the door of the house behind him, once they were outside and pulled a little box out of the pocket of his jacket.

“Please open it now.” Mike basically begged.

El furrowed her eyebrows. “I don’t have anything for you…” She quietly said as Mike gave her the little box, wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper.

“You don’t have to give me anything.” Mike answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Eleven slowly nodded and opened the gift. She opened the box and a golden ring was revealed.

As soon as the brunette saw the ring, her face lit up again. “A-A ring? For me? H-How?” She was barely able to speak in all the excitement.

Mike smiled at her, falling in love even more with her, which he thought was impossible. He took hold of her cold hands.

“I can finally properly ask you.” He went down on one knee, still holding El’s hands, which were shaking as they tried not to accidentally let go of the box.

“El, you are the love of my life and I want to spend every minute with you until I die. I will take care of you and in a few years of our kids, I promise I will be the best husband and father. My life is just… so much better since the day I met you. I often realize that I actually don’t deserve someone as brave and strong and beautiful and lovely as you. You have saved the world and you have saved my world when you came back to me after 353 days. Please marry me, El Hopper.” Mike said.

He went through these sentences so many times since Joyce and him got the rings. A sigh of relief escaped his lips and he closed his eyes for a moment after he got through his speech without stuttering.

When he opened his eyes again to look at El, he saw her crying. Mike immediately stood up again, not quite sure what to do or what to say, since he didn’t expect El to cry. “What’s wrong? Did I say something weird? I’m sorry.” Mike babbled quickly, awkwardly hugging Eleven.

“I want to marry you, Mike Wheeler.” She mumbled into his clothes, too weak to say anything else. In that moment, snow started falling out of the sky. How romantic. And cliché. But it made the whole moment so much more special.

Mike smiled at ease and held El for a few more minutes until she calmed down.

“I love you.”

“I love you more.”

They kissed each other and it felt like the perfect ending of a movie.

Meanwhile, back at the Byers’ house behind them, Dustin, Lucas, Max, Will, Steve, Nancy and Jonathan were looking out of the window in curiosity, aweing when the couple kissed.  
Jonathan used that chance to take a photo.

“Mike’s totally gonna get laid tonight.” Max said all of sudden, interrupting the beautiful atmosphere.

“Max, what the hell.”

“Max, seriously.”

The guys blushed, despite being of that age, where relationships and sex were normal.

Good thing El and Mike didn’t hear that, since they were outside.

“I think they won’t.” Dustin said.

“Wanna bet?” Max said to her curly headed friend.

“Sure.” He grinned.

 

Later that night, back at Ted and Karen Wheeler’s house, everyone went to sleep.

It was 1 AM in the night, making it basically Christmas morning.

However, two people were not sleeping that night any time soon.

Mike was hovering over El in bed, both of them in Mike’s old bedroom.

He cupped her face as he kissed her, while El ran her hands through Mike’s curly hair.

They were a lot more excited than usually.

Their kisses were a lot more passionate and to be frank, the young couple was pretty horny.

Mike quickly got rid of El’s clothes until she only wore her panties and nothing else.

Oh and the ring on her finger of course. She wore that one already.

And Mike wore his ring too.

Feeling like it was unfair that only El was almost naked, she pulled on the button of Mike’s jeans while he kissed her, basically telling him to undress himself. And he did as she wanted him to.  
Undressing himself until he wore nothing anymore, he also decided to get rid of El’s last piece of clothing.

“Honestly El, it’s unfair.”

This sudden statement caught El off guard and she looked at Mike in confusion as she laid naked in front of him, with him doing nothing but looking at her.

“W-What…?” She breathed while trembling in anticipation.

“You’re so fucking beautiful, I can’t believe I’m going to marry you.” Mike smiled. He rarely used swear words in front of El but this time he couldn’t help but to use it to express his feelings.

El felt her confidence boosting when Mike told her that she was beautiful. Little things like these are what made El love her fiancé so much.

“Don’t keep me waiting” She purred in a cute way and spread her legs.

“Oh lord, you are just too sexy for me, the Mind Flayer can take me right now.” Mike put a hand on his eyes, playfully exaggerating and causing Eleven to laugh in joy.

Their sex was always different. Sometimes sweet and pure, sometimes filled with jokes and awkward giggles.

Mike was ready to slide into El when a haunting image crept his mind.

 _“But no babies until you’re both 28!”_ Hopper reminded him in his head.

Mike shivered and quickly got off the bed. “Condoms.” He explained to El, who waited in frustration and pouted while waiting.

He found them in his luggage and quickly put one on.

“Okay, sorry to keep you waiting.” Mike carefully inserted his boner and El wrapped her arms around Mike, immediately letting out a moan as she felt him inside him.

Eleven squeezed her eyes shut and placed a hand over her mouth, knowing that no one should hear them.

Mike really wanted to hear her moans but knew as well that it would cause an embarrassing conversation with Nancy and his parents the following day if they heard them.

So Mike grabbed El’s wrist and pinned them on the bed, one arm on each side of her head. And to make sure El wouldn’t accidentally let out a load moan or gasp, Mike started to play with her lips, biting and running his tongue over them.

Their raw and loving passion was satisfying the both of them a lot.

“Mike… Mike…” El softly whimpered into the kiss, while he quietly husked out her name sometimes.

They soon reached their peak, and waves of pleasure shot through Mike’s and El’s bodies when they came nearly at the same time.

Mike rolled over to lie next to his lover, panting relatively loudly and trying to calm down from his high quickly. Same for Eleven, who went limp and lazily cuddled herself onto Mike.

He threw the condom into the trash can, almost missing, and mumbled an “I love you, my bride” and got an exhausted “I love you more, my groom” in return before falling asleep. 

 

Seems like Max won that bet with Dustin.


End file.
